Monday, July 22, 2013

Oksas First Doorslammer over 270

Scott Oksas of Santa Clarita, California, became the first drag racer in history unofficially to eclipse the 270 mph barrier in a race car with working doors. The run occurred at a West Coast Outlaw Pro Modified Association event at Sonoma Raceway on July 21, 2013. After a non-qualifying pass in the 6.4 second zone at 252 plus, Oksas came back for a test run in his turbocharged 1970 Camaro and recorded a 6.044 elapsed time on a soft launch, but as the turbos spun up on the top end, a booming 273.05 mph speed lit up the scoreboards! With the run, Oksas put more than ten miles per hour on the former all time fastest Doorslammer speed of 262.49 recorded by Todd Tutterow in Englishtown, New Jersey, in October 2012. He also ignited anew the controversy about racing turbocharged cars against supercharged and nitrous injected machines. NOTE: On Monday, July 22, Scott's team indicated that they felt the pass was not legitimate, and was closer to 263 mph. No doubt all eyes will be on Oksas and his turbo Camaro every time he comes to the line from now on.